Russians in Luhansk Dismantle Monuments to Victims of Holodomor

On July 17, monuments to the victims of Joseph Stalin's repression and the Holodomor – the Great Famine of 1932-33 – were dismantled in Remembrance Square, Governor ofLuhansk Artem Lysohor said.

According to Lysohor, the decision was made by local deputies following an appeal from Luhansk residents. Detailsof the appeal and its instigators are not freely available.

"The occupiers needed a reason; a reason to do it today, tofill their information space on the anniversary of the destruction of the passenger plane MH17 by the Russians over our skies," Lysohor commented.

Just two years ago, children could learn about Stalin's criminal actions from school textbooks. But since the beginning of the last academic year, Russia presented a new textbook in which the cult of Stalin's personality was promulgated again, as it was 80 years ago.

“They added a section about the war against Ukraine,”Lysohor noted.

The video of the monument's demolition can be viewed here:

Monument dismantled in Mariupol

On June 19 in temporarily occupied Mariupol, Russian authorities dismantled a monument to the victims of the shelling of the Skhidniy (East) neighborhood.

This follows the destruction of other places of memory, afterwhich the Russians set up memorial signs to the Russian military – the invaders who took part in the blockade of the city and were responsible for killing civilians.

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In April 2023, Russia dismantled a memorial sign in Mariupolcity center in honor of the 500th anniversary of the Ukrainian Cossacks.

In autumn 2022, the occupiers completely painted over the"Milana" mural, which depicted a young girl who was injured during the shelling at Skhidny

in January 2015. In that attack, Russia shelled the residential area using a Grad anti-aircraft missile system. A total of 31 people died, including two children, while another 125 civilians were injured, including nine children. The buildings and infrastructure of the city suffered significant damage

and the mural was unveiled in September 2018.